Shall we give tribute to a summer’s day? What could be more lovely and temperate than the blender blades stirring the darling fruits of today, for summer’s lease hath all too short a date! So what are you waiting for? Nothing sighs “summer quenching” better than an icy blender drink. And the beauty is, you can toss just about any combination of fruits, a healthy slosh of rum (or tequila or vodka or . . . ?) and a handful of ice, and hit the button for a pitcherful of party.
I’ve included some recipes collected from sources both savory and seedy (all personally sampled—that is, inspected—by a willing and professional panel of blenderologists) to get you started. In other words, you’ve just been issued your own poetic license to go blender crazy.
Some tips:
• In general, four ice cubes per serving makes a slush and eight makes a frozen drink. Follow your own bliss.
• Use only fresh ice (not those old cubes with little crumbs and bits of parsley stuck to them).
• Smaller cubes are easier to blend, crushed ice being easiest, and gentler on the old Osterizer.
• You can use frozen fruit or fresh ripe seasonal fruit. If using the latter, make sure to toss it in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before starting.
• It’s a good idea to keep alcohol in the freezer. Your mantra should be: Keep it cool.
• Blend for no more than 45 to 60 seconds. Overblending will make your creations watery.
• Serve immediately. If you have any of your concoction left over, keep it cool, and reblend before serving.
• Fruit flavors can be accentuated by adding appropriate juices and/or flavored liqueurs.
• These babies are usually served in parfait glasses, but any tall glass will do.
• Now’s the time to break out those little paper umbrellas and fancy stirrers. These drinks demand to be pimped out to the max.
• Sip slowly or suffer the worse kind of brain freeze.
• Remember, just ’cause they look like smoothies, doesn’t mean they are. Go easy, pardner.
Icy Bliss
Here are both classic and more exotic recipes to prepare individual portions; multiply by the number in your party (or by the most vocal of your party) accordingly.
Strawberry Daiquiri
2 ounces light rum
1 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce triple sec
1/2 tsp. superfine sugar
1 cup ice
5 strawberries
Garnish with a strawberry. Variations: Instead of strawberries, or in combination to taste, add chunks of mango, banana, blueberries, peach and/or pineapple.
Blue Bayou
1 cup of ice
1 1/2 ounce vodka
1/2 ounce blue Curaçao
1/2 cup fresh or canned pineapple
2 ounces grapefruit juice
Garnish with a chunk of pineapple.
Spiked Frozen Lemonade
3/4 cup lemonade
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup lemon sorbet
1/2 cup vodka
1 cup ice
Garnish with mint sprigs.
Frozen Fruit Margarita
1 ounce tequila
1/2 ounce triple sec
1/2 ounce sour mix
1/2 cup ice
fresh fruit and fruit liqueur of your choice; lime juice to taste
Garnish with a lime slice.
Rock Lobster
1 ounce coconut rum
1/2 ounce banana liqueur
dash of grenadine
1/2 ripe banana
dash of pineapple juice
dash of orange juice
1 cup ice
dark rum to top
—A.Y.
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